Knock it down

The Posse wholeheartedly agrees with the brilliant response to a possible North Korean missile test offered by Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive:  shoot it down.

While Uncle Jimbo's suggestion may appeal to a visceral sense of justice, it also makes excellent sense from a foreign policy perspective.

One of the problems with the deterrent effect of a missile defense system is that it is essentially unproven.  Even after a raft of successful tests, one can still hear many American officials insisting that it can't or won't work.  Indeed, no amount of testing can substitute for the real thing.

A North Korean test flight is therefore the ideal situation in which to test America's ABM capability.  Even if critics deride it as a "lucky shot," it will have worked.  "Star Wars," "SDI" or whatever one wishes to call it will be real.

Would this be an act of war?  Perhaps.  Then again, the Korean War has never ended and a missile launch could arguably be considered an act of war in its own right.

American resolve is being tested.  A successful use of a defensive technology would accomplish much in terms of making SDI a more effect deterrent and reminding the world that the US stands by its allies.

This latter point is not to be overlooked.  The question of the fate of Taiwan looms large.  A strong US show of resolve - shooting down a missile on behalf of Japan - would perhaps give Beijing second thoughts about its ongoing sabre-rattling.

As for a failed intercept, it is a possibility, but great gains can only come from taking chances.  US policy during the 1990s was based on minimizing risk and we have paid a heavy price for it.  From failing to remove Saddam in 1991 to fleeing Somalia and ignoring the threat of Radical Islam, the "safe course" often creates more dangers than it avoids.

Shoot it down.

UPDATE:  Proving that great minds think alike, the Wall Street Journal agrees with us.

Comments

[DirtCrashr]

Hehehe, we could even offer to pay them to send up another to help us test the system. "Hey buddy, pull that trap-cord and launch us a few birds, I wanna test my new stack-barrel!"

[Andrew Upson]

Damn straight.

I only wish the project I'm working on was already operational. I'd be a perfect opportunity to test a technology (not a shoot down system, but maybe headed that way if funding were made available).